2016-01-18 – Meh; illness and a cutie mark

Today there is nothing in my head. The well of creativity has temporarily run dry. Or if not dry, then obscured by the painful coughing that drives spikes through my throat and lungs, the throbbing head and eyes that flinch away from the light, and the aching joints and muscles of shoulders, neck, and back. The common cold is no fun.

And yet, having made the commitment, I can’t allow anything to interfere in the successful capture of each day.

I find myself thinking more and more each day of the concept of the cutie mark. For those who aren’t familiar with My Little Pony, each pony has on his or her flank a mark unique to them; their interests, their personality, the deepest calling of their soul. They’re born without one; the day they discover their own special talent, the quality that makes them like no other pony ever born, the mark appears, and is forever an outward representation of that pony’s innermost self.

(Yes, I watch cartoons, even at the age of 43. I like cartoons.)

Wouldn’t it be nice if people had cutie marks, too? Each of us is born with some special, unique talent, unlike anyone that has ever been born or ever will be. But so many of us spend our lives unaware of what that special gift is. And far too many others know what they were born to do and deny themselves the opportunity of doing it – it’s ‘too arsty,’ ‘not lucrative,’ or ‘impractical.’ So they live their lives denying themselves the deepest, innermost part of their own nature, and they deprive the world of that special talent, that bright, unique light.

And all are made less because of that particular choice.

If I had a cutie mark, I think it would be a pen and a scroll. Because I enjoy photography, of course I do, but my own special gift is that of storytelling. And sometimes the medium is pictures, and sometimes it’s words.

Maybe that sounds a bit confused; maybe you’re dismissing it out of hand as the fatigued mental ramblings of a sleep-deprived would-be philosopher who’s sickening for something; maybe you’re laughing with scorn at the thought of an adult finding wisdom in a kid’s lame cartoon about friendship and values where ponies break into song at least once an episode, and that’s okay.

Because maybe the concept has struck a deep chord within you. Maybe you’re thinking about what your own cutie mark would be. And maybe you’re asking yourself that most important of questions, What’s my special gift? What was I born to do?